In the year 1849 a Trustee of the British Museum, Mr W. R. Hamilton, at that time a man of 73 noted for his great interest in archaeology, particularly that of Greece and Egypt, was giving evidence before a commission enquiring into the affairs of the Musuem. ‘Have you’, he was asked, ‘ever turned your attention to the question of extending and improving the collection of British antiquities in the British Museum as distinct from all others?’ ‘I have not’, answered Mr Hamilton.